The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire; thou shalt not covet the silver and gold [that is] on them and take it unto thee, lest thou be ensnared therein; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God.
Israel is about to enter a land full of idols, and God orders every image burned — down to the gold and silver on them. Why not save the valuable metal?
One writer weighs two dangers against each other.
There was something far more to fear than the enemy's power: the ensnaring influence of their idolatry.
The chapter comes back to this at its close.
Once more, at the end of the chapter, God warns them against loving the silver and gold on idolatrous images. They were not to fear the power of these nations, nor to be captivated by their luxuries. Their later history showed that of the two dangers, the ensnaring pull of the luxuries proved far more disastrous for them.
One writer puts the objection into Israel's own mouth.
"What!" the heart might say, "are we to destroy the gold and silver that adorn these images? Could that not be put to some good use? Is it not a pity to destroy what is so very valuable in itself? It is all right to burn the images, but why not spare the gold and silver?"
The same reasoning returns whenever we must give up what is evil.
This is just how the poor heart is prone to reason. This is how we often deceive ourselves when we are called to judge and abandon what is evil. We persuade ourselves that it is right to hold something back; we imagine we can pick and choose and make some distinction. We are prepared to give up some of the evil, but not all. We are ready to burn the wood of the idol, but spare the gold and silver.
The verse gives two reasons to destroy it all: the snare it sets, and what God thinks of the idol. On the first:
All must be given up, all destroyed. Keep back a scrap of the accursed thing, and we fall into the snare of the devil. We link ourselves with what God calls an abomination, however highly people may value it.
The second reason rules out saving the metal for a better use.
They must burn their carved images, and not even desire the silver and gold the idols were made of. Everything had to be destroyed completely, because any trace of these evils left behind would be a snare to Israel. In God's sight the entire idol was abomination. No part of it could be sanctified to Him.
One writer explains what people will pay for gold, and where that desire leads.
Gold is what people labour for, what they will trade strength and health for. For it they will give up comfort and the happiness of home, and even put life at risk. So Scripture speaks of covetousness (the lust of gold) as idolatry — this object of human desire put in the place of the Creator. So we find that images made to be worshipped were often made of gold, representing what people prize most highly.
One man later did exactly what this verse forbids. What followed shows what being ensnared means in practice.
Here is also a solemn warning against lust and covetousness, for we are surrounded by snares on every side. One of those who had professed faithfulness to God saw a Babylonian garment and a wedge of gold, and coveted them. So he took them and hid them in his house; but God saw him, and His judgment fell heavily as a result. And we all know Satan's common baits today for those who profess to be Christians: love of clothes — "the Babylonian garment" — and the possession of wealth — "the wedge of gold." Joshua warned the people to keep away from the accursed thing, so they would not become accursed themselves. But Achan paid no attention. His sin brought misery and defeat on the whole nation, and swift destruction on himself.
The corresponding command for readers today is not about melting down statues.
Let us remember that the same tendency is at work with us today. That is why John's first letter ends with the words, "keep yourselves from idols." For us an idol is anything that ensnares. It takes the place in our hearts that belongs to God alone.
- Fascination, not fear — the enemy's power was never Israel's real threat. The pull of the enemy's idolatry was, and this verse guards against it.
- Reserve — the heart's instinct is to burn the wood and keep the gold, giving up some of the evil but not all of it.
- Snare — keep back one scrap of the accursed thing, and you fall into the devil's trap. You tie yourself to what God calls an abomination.
- No salvage — the whole idol was abomination in God's sight; no part of it could be made holy for His use.
- Guard — an idol today is whatever ensnares and takes the place in the heart that belongs to God alone.
And thou shalt not bring an abomination into thy house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.
The chapter moves from the battlefield to the front door. The enemy's strength is no longer the danger — his gods are, and what a person carries home.
The word covers anything a holy God finds intolerable, but one sin owns it in a special way.
The Old Testament uses the word 'abomination' for any sin as a holy God sees it. It also marks what was unfit to bring into the service of God — an animal with any blemish offered as a sacrifice, or the price of a dog put into the treasury. Worship itself became an abomination to God when it sank into mere outward form, or when it was joined to sin. But idolatry was the special thing God declared to be an abomination.
The command left no room for a bargain, because God's verdict fell on the whole object, not part of it.
In God's sight the entire idol was an abomination. No part of it could be set apart for Him. More than this, God told Israel to detest and abhor such idols. They were not only to avoid them but to hate them, because they were under the curse of God.
Yet the heart looks for an exception. One writer traces how it argues.
This is just how the poor heart tends to reason. This is how we often deceive ourselves when we must judge and abandon what is evil. We persuade ourselves that it is right to hold something back. We imagine we can pick and choose and make some distinction. We are prepared to give up some of the evil, but not all. We are ready to burn the wood of the idol, but spare the gold and silver.
The reason the smallest keepsake is refused is that it is not neutral. It is bait.
A fatal delusion! "You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God." All must be given up, all destroyed. To keep back a scrap of the accursed thing is to fall into the snare of the devil. It ties us to what men value highly and God calls an abomination.
The man becomes what he shelters. Where the ESV says "devoted to destruction," older translations say "a cursed thing" — the wording this writer uses.
To bring an abomination into the house is to become like it! How very solemn! The man who brought an abomination into his house became a cursed thing like it!
Israel soon proved the warning true. One man hid forbidden plunder in his house.
If there is one Scripture that proves beyond dispute that association with evil defiles, it is the story of Achan and his sin. God commanded His people to take Jericho and destroy it completely. All the metals, precious and common, were to be for God. But one man disobeyed. By his own testimony he said, "I saw... I coveted... I took... and I hid." Suppose Achan had been asked, "What do you have in your house?" If he was truthful, he would have had to say, "I have something in my house that ought not to be there. God said that I was not to take it." When the inquiry came and his sin was found out, this man's home was destroyed.
The verse still lands today, because idolatry is defined by what rules the heart, not by its material.
Whatever commands the heart is an idol. To yield the heart to that thing is idolatry, and the one who yields it is an idolater. Take that one great, crying, universal sin of covetousness. What does the inspired apostle call it? He calls it idolatry. How many hearts are commanded by money!
The question comes back to the home.
How sad, to find in our home things which do not please God. Perhaps we, or our wife, or children may have them. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21). Besides the idols of gold, silver, wood, stone or paper, there may be idols inside our hearts. Money or knowledge, drinking, eating, pleasures — anything that takes the place of God in our eyes. God wants us always to put Him first.
- Abomination. The word marks whatever a holy God finds intolerable, and idolatry is the sin it names above all.
- Whole. The entire idol was condemned; no piece of it could be set apart for God, so no piece could be salvaged.
- Fragment. Keeping back even a scrap is the trap — the heart burns the wood and spares the gold, and calls that obedience.
- House. What is carried through the door does not stay an object: the man who housed the cursed thing became one.
- Heart. Whatever commands the heart is an idol. The warning reaches money, pleasure and knowledge, not just carved images.